Apparatus for the manufacture of mosaic floor-cloth.



APPLICATION FILED .IULY 3, I9I5- I Rm 9 1 H 1 1% n PL. AH E M m OM t a D1 I I FHI IHIHT 5 wuwwtoz.

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THE COLUIIIRIA PLANOGRAPH 110., WASHINGTON, 0- CI E. BATTEN.

APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF MOSAIC FLOOR CLOTH.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 3, I915.

1,179,1 54. Patented Apr. 11, 1916.

6 SHEETSSHEET 2.

THE COLUMBIA PLANUGRAPH rm, WASHINGTON. u. c.

E. BATTEN.

APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTU RE 0F MOSAIC FLOOR CLOTH.

. APPLICATION HLED JULY 3. 1915. 1,179, 1 54. Patented Apr. 11, 1916.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

wueubo'c.

rm: COLUMBIA PLANDGRAPH cu., WASHINGTON. n. c.

E. BATTEN.

APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF MOSAIC FLOOR CLOTH.

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gmuemoz [DIVE/VD EHT TEN THE COLUMBIA PLANOURAPH 120., WASHINGTON, D. C.

E. BATTEN. f

APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF mosmc FLOOR CLOTH. APPLICATION FILED JULY 3, I915.

1,179,1 54. Patented Apr. 11, 1916.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

wvewto'z wnm Tm: COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH 00-, WASHINGTON, D. c.

E. BATTEN. v APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF MOSAIC FLOOR CLOTH.

Patented Apr. 11, 1916.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 3| 19].). 1,179,154.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 6- nventoz EDWH/FD HHTTE'N ii fiTnR vEVS I I l l I I IIOIIIIIIII THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH c0. WASHINGTON. D. C.

I adjusted position,

UNITED PATENT FFIQE. I

EDWARD BATTEN, OF EcKENHAM,ENeLAivn ssieNoR TO THE NAIRN LINOLEUM COMPANY, 0 KEARNEY, EW J SE ,A coRPoRATIoN 0E NEW JERSEY.

APPARATUS FOR THE MANU A TURE 0F MoSAIc FLOOR-CLOTH.'

7 Specification of Letters Patent;

Patented Apr. 11, 1916.

Application filed July 3, 1915. Serial No. 37,856.

Toall whom it may concern Be it known that I, ,EDWARD BATTEN,a

subject of the King of Great Britain and mentioned, (1) the provision of a supporting frame comprising-a movable element on which the tesserae cutting and depositing elements are mounted and by means of Which they may be brought to position for convenient handling on change of pattern, (2) the arrangement of the cooperating members of each color element in such manner that each element forms a self-contained unit which may be removed from and mounted upon the movable frame element as a distinct entity with the parts in assembled and thus expediting the change of pattern on the machinery; (3) the provision of means for feeding the color webs to the cutting units in such manner that in case of breakage of the web there is no danger of the loose ends fouling the machine, while the feed is automatically reestablished without necessity for manual attention; (4;) the arrangement of a pressing cylinder, with serrated periphery, so closely adjacent the inlaying drum that the tesseraeare engaged thereby substantially simultaneously with their separation from the inlaying drum and the possibility of deformation of the pattern thus minimized; (5) the construction and operationof this pressing cylinder in such manner that, during normal operation of the machine, tesserae of the same color contact with the same portion of the cylinder area on each revolution of the lat.-

-'ter, so as to prevent the printing off of one pattern upon another by this cylinder; (6 the provision of means for adjustingthe tension of the mosaic fabricin its various reaches between the inlaying-drum and the successive pressing and cooling cylinders,

(7 a the various features of construction and improvement shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 1s a schematlc side elevation of an apparatus in which my invention is embodied in one' form; Fig. 2 and 2 form together a side elevation of the inlaying-drum, pressing and cooling cylinders, drawn to a larger Scale; Fig. 3 is an end elevation of one of the color-units, detached and drawn toa larger scale; Fig. 4 is a broken side elevation of the same; Fig. 5 is a horizontal section through the first pressing cylinder; Fig. 6 is a similar section through the second pressing cylinder; Fig. 7 is a plan of the inlaying-drum, pressing and cooling cylinders; and Fig. 8 is a skeleton view of the drive mechanism for the inlaying drum.

It has heretofore been common practice in machines of the rotary inlaying-drum type to which the present invention particularly relates, to mount the inlaying-drum and the cooperating tesserae cutting and depositing elements upon a common rigid frame in which the various parts were separately mounted and adjusted, As a consequence of this construction, it has heretofore been necessary, on a change of pattern, not only to remove independently each member of each color element, but also to handle it in the particular peripheral position which it occupies with relation to the inlaying'drum. Inasmuch as these color elements are of necessity arranged in various peripheral positions, and some of them are so located as to be difficult to handle, the operation of removing one set of parts and replacing it by a Second set of parts, all of which are very heavy and awkward to manage consumes a great deal of time. As much as two days is frequently lost in the making of such a change of parts and the necessary adjustments after assembly, during which time of course the apparatus as a whole is "idle and non-productive.

By the present construction, the tesserae cuttingand depositing elements are carried by a ,displaceable (here rotary) frame memberaby means of which each element may be brought to position for convenient manipulation during change of parts. Moreover each color element is so constructed as. to form a unit which may be bodily removed as an entity from the frame member and replaced by another element, the cooperating parts of which are all in position and adjusted with relation to each other. In a machine of this construction the entire series of color elements may be removed and replaced by others of a different pattern in the space of a couple of hours.

The enlarging (Zru mframe-In the construction here shown, the inlaying drum 10 is freely j ournaled' upon a spindle 11 mounted in the uprights 12 on the rigid base 13. The color elements 14, however, are supported at their opposite ends on the wheellike auxiliary frame members 15 keyed at 16 to the spindle 11 and arranged between the ends of drum 10 and the uprights 12. Securing bolts 17 pass through the base plates 18 of the color units and through the peripheral flanges 19 of the auxiliary frames 15 and afford readily freed means for holding the color units in posit-ion on the frame. The tie rods 20 extending longitudinally of the drum between the uprights of each color unit, not only cooperate with the base plates 18 and thrust caps 21 of each unit to hold its parts together as a rigid entity, but also afford a suflicient tie between the auxiliary frames 15 and cooperate with the keyed connection 16 to the spindle 11 to maintain these frame members rigid with relation to each other. During the operation of the machine, moreover, the frame members 15 may be held in fixed position by the angled stop plates 22 carried thereby and detachably secured to the uprights 12 by screw bolts 23.

A peripheral worm gear 24 is provided for each frame member 15, with which mesh a pair of worm screws 25 driven from a common shaft 26. If nowit be desired to change the color units 14 for a different pattern, the stop plates 22 are freed, and the worm screws 25 set in motion to bring the topmost color unit to position at the top of the frame 15 and substantially vertically above the sh aft 11. In this position its bolts 17 may be safely unscrewed and the unit removed as an entity by the over-head travcling crane 27 to some convenient out-of-theway position. lVhile the crane is traveling away with this unit, the frame 15 is further rotated to bring the next unit to the same position, whereupon it is halted and the bolts 17 therefor removed, so that upon the return of the crane the unit is in readiness for removal. A like procedure for the suc-. ceeding units is followed, each in succession being brought to the uppermost position above shaft 11 and carried away by the crane as an entity. A reversal of the procedure supplies the frame with substitute color units 14 each of which, with its parts in assembled and adjusted position, is

brought by the crane and deposited in its proper position upon the frame 15 which is now intermittently rotated in opposite direction by the worm screws 25, until the frame has again its full complement of color units and may be secured in operating position by means of the stop plates 22.

That the value of this construction is not confined to machines in' which the various members of each color element are assembled and handled as a unit, will be readily recognized when it is considered that the handling of the members of each element (when they must be separately handled) can be far more conveniently done at one accessible spot than when in the various peripheral positions which the elements must assume in operative position on the machine. In the construction shown, each color element comprises a cutting cylinder 28, a presser roller 29 against which the color web 30 is cut, internal revolving rollers 31 which rotate in contact with the stems of ejecting plates (as shown in Walton 626,117 of May 1899) and eject tesserae, brushes 32 and rollers 33 in contact with the cutting cylinder on the outside thereof. The assembly and adjustment of these various parts on the frame 15, even were they not removable as color units, could obviously be much more conveniently accomplished on the frame if the latter is susceptible of displacement to bring these elements to vertical or other convenient position. Much more convenient however is it to mount the members of each color element in an independent subsidiary frame so that the element may be removed as a unit and substituted by a like unit all the parts of which are in position and previously adjusted for operation so that it is merely necessary to assemble this subsidiary frame in position on the main frame in order to place the machine in condition for operation. To facilitate the handling of the color units by the crane, each unit is preferably provided with a pair of yokes 34 or the like by which it may he lifted bodily from or to the frame 15.

Feed of the color webs.It has heretofore been customary to guide the color webs toward the color elements by means of idlcrs,

but the arrangement of these has been such that upon a breakage of the color Web, either the end engaged by the cutting cylinder or the end from the feed is apt to fall into the machine and become fouled therein. The use of conveyer bands has also been proposed heretofore for leading the color web to the cutting element, but the arrangement of these bands has been as defective as the arrangement of the guide rollers in the respect mentioned and the danger of the broken web ends fouling has been quite as great in the one case as in the other. Moreover in both cases, the web guides have been so arranged that in case of breakage of the web, the feed end of the latter must be again manually introduced to the bite of the cutting cylinder and this cannot be done without danger to the operator.

In the present machine the color webs 30 are delivered by the rolls 35 to conveyer bands 36 which in turn deliver to the feed bands 37. The delivery ends of these feed bands are so positioned that the color Webs 30 pass therefrom by gravity to the pressure.

roller 29. The direction of rotation of the latter is such that it leads the end of the web to the cutting cylinder 28 the knives of which engage the end of the web and carry it to the bite of'the pressure roller 29. Where necessary guides, such as 38, may be provided to prevent the web from encountering a roller rotating in a direction contrary to that desired.

The inclination of the bands 36 is such that even for the lowermost, which is the one of greatest inclination, it is still approximately horizontal and the friction between the color web and the band would obviously be suflicient to overcome any tendency of the web endto slide down the band and become fouled in the machine. Irrespective of the point between the feed rolls 35 and the color unit 14 at which the color web may break, it is supported by the bands 36 and 37 and the broken end will be automatically fed to the cutting cylinder in the regular operation of the machine and without manual attention. The arrangement of the conveyer bands in close proximity to the cutting rolls of the color units 14 results in the obstruction of certain of the units by the supporting idlers 39. when the frame 15 is rotated to bring the units to removal position on a change of pattern. Such idlers therefore as may occupy obstructing positions are mounted on pivoted supports 40 so that they may be swung out of the,path of travel of the units.

Arrangement of serrated pressing e z Zinder.As is well understood, the tesserae are deposited by the color units 14 upon a suitable cloth backing 41 drawn from roll' 42 over the guide roll 43 adjacent the inlayingdrum 10. While the tesserae are upon the inlaying-drum they are held in proper relation to each other by the pins which project in well understood manner from the periphery of the inlaying-drum through the backing 41 and into the lower face of the tesserae. After they leave the inlaying-drum and until they are subjected to the heat and pressure of the first pressing roll, they are held in proper position on the backing usually only through the interlocked mosaic relation in which they have been deposited thereon by the units 14, although in some cases an adhesive has been applied to the juxtaposed face of the backing. The ba cking 41 however is drawn on the inlayingdrum 10 under tension and is subject, like any textile, to extension or contraction. This fact combined with the fact that the tesserae are not yet permanently set on the backing, occasionally causes displacement of the tesserae of the pattern so that the latter is warped before it reaches the pressing cylinder. To obviate this difiiculty, the pressing cylinder 44 is provided with a serrated surface and is arranged in such close juxtaposition to the inlaying drum that the tesserae on leaving the pins of the latter are at once engaged by the serrated face of'the pressing cylinder. This roughened surface of the cylinder 44 engages and holds the tesserae in proper relation to each other in precisely the samemanner as the pins on the inlaying-drum and the pattern is thus'maintained without danger of displacement until the tesserae havebeen welded togther by the action of this cylinder. The likelihood of pattern displacement at this point is thus minimized;

Color registry on this pressing eylincler The serrated face of this pressing cylinder 44 is difiicult to thoroughly cleanse during the operation of the machine in spite of the use of cleaners 45. There is danger therefore that the cylinder will print off thecolor which it takes from one set of tesserae upon tesserae of another color, during the operation of the machine. To avoid this, the peripheral extent of the cylinder is accurately predetermined with relation to the lineal extent of the pattern, so that upon a single rotation of the cylinder 44 the pattern has a definite number of complete repeats, or in rare cases it may beof sufficient lineal extent to pass the cylinder 44 only once on a complete revolution of the latter. Consequently tesserae of the same color are always presented to the same portion of the peripheral area of the cylinder, provided the peripheral speeds of this cylinder and the drum 10 are maintained the same. This is accomplished through intermeshed gear rings 46 and 47 on. the cylinder and drum respectively,'which insure their positive synchronous rotation. v

Adjustment of fabric tension-In addition to the heated pressing cylinder 44 with serrated face, the apparatus comprises a second heated pressing cylinder 48 the surface of which is smooth, and a pair of cooling cylinders 49, 50, through which the mosaic fabric passes to its winding spool 51. As previously pointed out, the inlayingdrum 10 is connected through spur gear 47 thereon with the spur gear 46 on the-pressing cylinder 44. The'latter has a drive connection with the smooth pressing cylinder 48, through'a chain 52 engaging sprockets 53, 54, on the respective cylinders. Cylinder 48 is operatively connected in turn to the cooling cylinder 49 through a chain 55 engaging sprockets 56, 57 on these cylinders respectively. And the'two cooling cylinders 49, 50, are geared together by spur gears 58, 59, while winding spool 51 is driven in any suitable manner. The several cylinders thus connected are driven from a pair of shafts 61, 62, the first having a pinion 63 meshing with the spur gear 47 of the inlaying-drum 10 and the second having a pinion 64 meshing with the pinion 58 of the cooling drum 49. This arrangement affords opportunity for adjusting the tension of the mosaic fabric 65 between (a) the inlaying-drum the pressing cylinder 44; (b) the pressing cylinders 44 and 48; (c) the pressing cylinder 48 and the cooling cylinder 49, and in any case without interrupting the operation of the machine. To this end, the spur gear 46 of pressing cylinder 44 is carried by a ring 66 rotatably mounted on the hub 67 formed at one end of the cylinder and provided with an endflange 68. A T-slot 69 is formed in the end of cylinder beneath this flange and the heads 70 of clamping bolts 71 carried by the flange 68 engaged in this slot. The nuts 72 for the clamping bolts are given the form of a star wheel. Obviously if the nuts 72 are loosened during the operation of the machine the driving connection between the cylinder 44 and inlaying-drum 10 is broken since the spur gear 46 is now free on the hub 67 of the cylinder. The drive of the latter is therefore solely from the shaft 62 through chains 55 and 52. By now varying the speed of shaft 62, the cylinder 44 may be driven ahead of or slower than the drum -10, and the tension of the fabric 65 between these elements increased or diminished as may be desired. To control the star units 72 without interrupting the operation of the machine, as a whole, levers 73 and 74 are provided, each having a finger 75, 76, adapted to be brought into the path of the star wheel but on different sides of its axis, whereby the nut may be rotated in opposite directions to loosen or tighten the same as desired. A similar arrangement is provided for the sprocket wheel 54 of cylinder 48, so that upon freeing its carrying ring, the speed of the cylinder may be varied to take up or slack off the fabric between it and the cylinder 44. The same is true of the sprocket of the cooling cylinder 50 so that the same tension adjustments of the fabric 65 may be made between it and the pressing drum 48.

Since the pressing rollers 77 for the cylinders 44, 48, should revolve with the latter, irrespective of the variation of the cylinders speed (during regulation of tension) with relation to that of the other cylinders of the machine, their driving pinions 78 are geared to spur gears 79, 80 fast on the respective cylinder ends.

While the construction shown and described is the best now known to me for acconrplishing the desired ends, various modifications for attaining substantially the same operation -will readily occur to those skilled in the art, without departing from what I claim as my invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a machine for making mosaic fioor cloth, a rotary inlaying drum, a series of color elements adapted to cut and deposit tesserae upon the drum in predetermined pattern relation, each of said elements com- 3. In a machine for making mosaic floor cloth, a stationary main frame and an auxiliary displaceable frame, a rotary inlaying drum associated therewith, and tesserae cutting and depositing elements arranged peripherally around said drum and carried by said displaceable auxiliary frame, together with means for holding said auxiliary frame in predetermined fixed position during the operation of the apparatus.

4. In a machine for making mosaic floorcloth, a rotary inlaying-drum, a series 'of tesserae-cutting and depositing elements, arranged peripherally around said inlayingdrum, and a displaceable frame carrying said tesserae cutting and depositing elements.

5. In a machine for making mosaic floorcloth, a rotary inlaying-drum, a series of peripherally arranged tesserae cutting and depositing elements, and a frame member rotating on an axis concentric with that of the inlaying drum and carrying said tesserae cutting and depositing elements.

6. In a machine for making. mosaic floorcloth, a rotary inlaying drum, a series of peripherally arranged self-contained color units, and a displaceable frame on which the latter are detachably mounted.

7. In a machine for making mosaic floorcloth, a rotary inlaying drum, a series of peripherally arranged self-contained color elements, and a rotary frame on which said elements are detachably mounted.

8. In a machine for making mosaic floorcloth, a rotary inlaying drum, a series of peripherally arranged self-contained color units, and a rotary frame coaxial with said drum, on which frame said units are detachably mounted.

9. In a machine for making mosaic floori cloth,-a stationary base, uprights thereon, a

spindle passing between said uprights, a ro-,

by said frame member and peripherally arranged with relation to said inlaying drum.

10. In a machine for making mosaic floorcloth, a rotary inlaying drum, a frame member displaceable with relation thereto, tesserae-cutting and depositing elements mounted thereon and arranged around the periphery of said-inlaying drum, a gear on said frame member and a cooperating gear for driving said frame member for the purpose described.

11. In a machine for making mosaic floorcloth, a rotary inlaying-drum, a frame member concentric therewith, tesserae-cutting and depositing elements mounted thereon and arranged around the periphery of said inlaying-dr um, a worm wheel on said frame member and a driving worm screw for rotating said frame member for the purpose described. 7

12. In a machine for making mosaic floorcloth, .an inlaying=drum, a series of peripherally arranged tesserae-cutting and depositing elements, and means for automatically feeding the end of a color Web to the bite of the cutting members of the tesserae elements.

13. In a machine for making mosaic floorcloth, an inlaying-drum, a series of peripherally arranged tesserze-cutting and depositing elements, and means for feeding color webs to said tesserze elements, said feed comprising means for supporting a broken color web and automatically leading the feed-end of the broken web to the bite of the cutting member of the tesserae elements.

14. In a machine for making mosaic floor-.

cloth, an inlaying-drum, a series of peripherally arranged tesserae-cutting and depositing elements, and means for feeding color webs to said tesserae elements, said feed comprising substantially horizontal traveling bands adapted to support the ends of a broken web and prevent its unguided fall into the machine.

15. In a machine for makingmosaic floorcloth, an inlaying-drum, a series of peripherally arranged tesserae-cutting and depositing elements, and means for feeding color webs to said tesserae elements, said feed comprising substantially horizontal traveling bands, said bands having their delivery ends arranged to deliver the color web to the bite of the cutting member of the tesserae element and having so slight an inclination from the horizontal as to support both ends of a broken color web and insure its normal delivery to the tesserae elements.

16. In a machine for making mosaic floorcloth, a rotary inlaying-drum, a displaceable frame member and color elements carried by the latter and peripherally arranged around the inlaying drum, in combination with means for feeding color webs to said color elements, said feed means being movably supported adjacent the frame to permit .of their removal from obstructing position on the displacement of the frame mem- 17. In a machine for making mosaic floorcloth, a rotary inlaying-drum, a displaceable frame member and color elements carried by the latter and peripherally arranged around the inlaying-drum, in combination with means for feeding color webs to said color elements, said feed means being pivotally supported to permit of its being swung out of obstructing position on the displacement of said frame member.

18. In a machine for making mosaic floorcloth, a rotary inlaying drum, and a pressing .cylinder with serrated periphery arranged adjacent the delivery side of said inlaying-drum and engaging the mosaic fabric substantially at the moment it leaves the inlaying drum, whereby displacement of the pattern is prevented.

. 19. In a machine formaking mosaic floorcloth, a rotary inlaying-drum, and a pressing cylinder with serrated periphery arranged adjacent the delivery side of the inlaying drum, and gearing connecting said drum and cylinder to insure their rotation at the same peripheral speed.

20. In a machine for making mosaic floorcloth, a rotary inlaying drum, and a pressing cylinder with serrated periphery arranged adjacent the delivery side of the inlaying drum, the peripheral extent of the cylinder being predetermined with relation to the lineal extent of the pattern of the fabric to insure the repeat of the, pattern upon the same peripheral area of the pressing cylinder on successive rotations of the latter, whereby printing off of one color pat-- tern upon another by this cylinder is prevented. I

21. In a machine for making mosaic floorcloth, a rotary inlaying drum, a plurality of pressing and cooling cylinders, positive drive connections between the several members, a pair of driving shafts operatively connected to said members, and means for temporarily interrupting at a predetermined point the positive drive connection between certain of the members, whereby one group of the series may be driven from one shaft at a different speed from the remaining group driven by the other shaft and the tension of the fabric between the two groups thus varied as desired.

22. In a machine for making mosaic floorcloth, a rotary inlayingdrum, a plurality of pressing and cooling cylinders, positive drive connections between the several members, a pair of driving shafts operatively connected to said members, and means for temporarily interrupting at a plurality of predetermined points the positive drive connection between difl'erent members, whereby different groups of the series may be driven from one shaft at a speed varyingfrom that of the group driven by the other shaft, whereby the tension of the fabric may be adjusted at a plurality of points in the series.

23. In a machine for making mosaic floorcloth, an inlaying-drum, a series of finishing cylinders arranged on the delivery side of said inlaying drum, positive driving connection between said cylinders, one of said cylinders having a driving connection freely mounted thereon, and being provided with means for clamping the same to the cylinder and means for varying the relation between said rotating members through the temporary slippage of said driving connection.

24. In a machine for making mosaic floorcloth, an inlaying-drum, a series of finishing cylinders arranged on the delivery side of said inlaying-drum, positive driving connections between said cylinders, one of said cylinders having a driving connection freely mounted thereon, and being provided with means for clamping the-same to the cylinder, together with means for actuating said clamping means during the operation of the machine to free or clamp said drive connection to the cylinder.

- 25. In a machine for making mosaic flooroloth, an inlaying-drum, a series of finishing cylinders arranged on the delivery side of said inlaying-drum, positive driving con nections between said cylinders, one of said cylinders having a driving connection freely mounted thereon, and being provided with means for clamping the same to the cylinder, together with pressure rolls, and a positive gear connection between the same and the cylinder to operate the same in unison without respect to the displacement of the drive connection relative to the cylinder.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

RODNEY L. MARoHAN'r, L. H. GRoTE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Eatents. Washington, D. C. 

